, hitting reeva three times, in the hip, elbow, and head. butthedefensetellsa different story. in a sworn statement pistorius claims he thought reeva was an intruder and that he feared for his life. this case is captivating south africa, being compared to the o.j. simpson trial. >> this is probably the biggest trial of the century, certainly so far. >> reporter: interes is so high a dedicated cable channel is now on air to cover proceedings. >> that tension between this almost godlike character, my mythological character, and the awful tragedy of what happened is something no one can resist. >> count 1 is one of murder -- >> reporter: in a crowded courtroom pistorius appears almost isolated, a lonely figure. but in that same way we've seen him on the field he's calm and focused, almost as if preparing for competition. >> it's only a matter of waking up and thinking i can do it. >> reporter: oscar pistorius was born without bones in his lower legs. after consulting with dozens of specialists, his parents made a decision to amputate from below the knee. he won a gold medal at th

after the reagan yeaears when they lot a lot ofthedefensespendingmoney that they werere used to. arare we going to see a recessin in the wasashington area and defense spending cuts continue? >> the washington onomy y is much more diversifieied than it used to be. last m month -- this month, february, car sales were rather robu, i am m hearing from folks i talk to at dealerships. even though in detroit they said february is noa good month, that is because of the snow. there is resiliencyere. i think pele are simply gog to find other things to dodo. >> ok,ther things to do. reid, i want to talk about minimuwageith yoyou. u heard the governors saying that they are not too worried about his crib of these in the minimum wawage in this a area. but you have been saying the president continues to push for minimum wage. where does that stanand? >> essentially, not quite dead in the wer. but there is no reaeal cooperatn comingrom congressional republicans on t the minimum wa. the president and congressional democrats are gog to u use it as a a campaign hitch through the year and throughgh

, herndon elementary school has not been touched. the effort to dig out, the first-lineofdefensestartswith people like jeff. >> plowing the snow, trying to make it easier to get around. >> this snowplow driver knows that taming the roads is a challenge. >> areas ice underneath the snow. >> he suspects he will be behind the wheel again this winter. >> i don't think it is over yet. i think we will get more. islocale treacherous it outside even at a busy area like tysons, a fairly well traveled road, old courthouse road, covered in snow. underneath that, there is ice. his parking lot is an absolute sheet of ice, something for people to be mindful of in the morning commute tuesday. live in tysons, jay korff, abc 7 news. >> thank you so much, jay. as the weather situation changes, count on us to keep you updated for the rightist -- latest road conditions, school closings. we are starting early tomorrow at 4 a.m. labor trying to leave her house for the hospital. what happened next is terrifying. her story coming up. inif you have to get around d.c. tomorrow, if you are driving or taking met

callthatdefense?! comeon! [ female announcer ] watch live tv anywhere. the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. ♪ >> announcer: for 86 years, oscar night has defined excellence and elegance to a watching world. each year, the most glittering stars on earth come together to shine and be a part of hollywood's biggest and most glamorous event. welcome to "the oscars red ♪ carpet live"! >>> the storm has passed, the rain stopped, the mood is bright here in hollywood, so happily we welcome you to the oscars red carpet live. what a thrill to be here on

thatdefense?! comeon! [ female announcer ] watch live tv anywhere. the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinityty. everything now have a new role. >> immigrations and customs enforcement is now part of the museum. the clock shows how this comes with a purpose. >> you are getting a first look at the immigration and custom enforcement new exhibit of the crime museum. our town has a lot of anachronisms, so what do they do? >> we combat transnational criminal organizations that bring everything from drugs, pornography to international property rights pieces. >> hoping that they will mentally put themselves in uniform. >> we want to inspire your. about what they do, they will do to get involved and fight a little crime. >> we started doing social media outreach about a year ago. helped catch a handful of the worst child predators. >> this is a really -- we need an app for this. and away to reach out to the public directly. >> they even released their own app. >> when we first rolled it out, we were number three. >> the culture now through december of the crime museum. tommy mick l

is under way. already this morning,pistorius'defenseattorneyhas challenged testimony of a husband and wife who say they heard screams then gunshots from pistorius' house on the morning reeva steenkamp was killed. yesterday the wife cried on the stand during testimony at one point pistorius covered his ears as if to stop hearing what was being said. >>> emergency crews remain on the scene of a deadly explosion in new jersey. a gas leak led to the blast which killed one woman and hurt several others. dozens were so damaged that families were not allowed to return. neighbors describe the terrifying moments of the explosion. >> the loudest sound i ever heard. >> we saw flames and smoke and chaos. >> all of a sudden all our windows just blew out. >> like a sonic boom and everything shook, the foundation, everything. >> seven utility workers were hurt but are expected to be okay. they were digging when they hit a gas line triggering the blast. >>> a surprise revelation from former penn state assistant football coach mike mcqueary, he was a key witness in the case that put jerry sandusky

, was it murder? did he intend to kill her? >>hisdefenseisit was a mistake and a reasonable person could have made the same mistake. fair enough but that's a tough defense. >> reporter: pistorius says he's kept a gun under his bed for security. he's always maintained it was all a tragic dent. the prosecution argues the shooting was deliberate. >> considering that oscar pistorius shot his own girlfriend in his own home multiple times, you would think it might be a victory for them if the judge only convicts him of the lesser crime of culpable homicide meaning it was a negligent shooting. >> reporter: well his defense team is leaving no stone your honor turned hiring a company that reproduces crime scenes and dr. henry lee who gave evidence during the o.j. simpson trial. the oscar pistorius trial is expected to last up to six weeks. most of it will be televised. dan and bianna. >> of course, the world will be watching. >>> on a lighter note we turn 0 our countdown to oscar sunday just one day away from hollywood's biggest night and the excitement is building, i would say very fast. >> in the mi

defense, tellsus tonight competent and compassionate. he blames the firefighter you are about to meet and listen to with a widespread cultural fear, starting at the very top of the fire department as to what really is to blame. report, the city points a critical finger at five d.c. firefighters who never responded to cries for help. >> he's not breathing. >> i have a person. he 75. >> not breathing, not conscious. multiple sources say that firefighter number one, a key figure in the report, is garrett murphy. younges with his wife and child in south-central pennsylvania, in the shadow of the three mile island nuclear power plant. he commutes two hours to washington. the door andck on quick conversation on the phone, murphy declined to comment. neighbors hesitant to speak publicly told off were deeply tall rolled -- deeply troubled by the tragedy of. but robert alvarado is speaking up. >> outstanding employee, great kid to be around. >> alvarado believes what happened at engine 26 says more about a department in disarray than the inaction of a few firefighters. people that are the brav

. before him,hisdefenseteam.and at the front of the room, the judge who'll decide his fate. he denies all of the charges. hamish macdonald, abc news, pretoria, south africa. >>> on this ash wednesday, pope francis is making headlines with a new interview. he reaffirmed church opposition to contraception and gay marriage. but he said, different situations of co-habitation must be evaluated. a statement some are interpreting as the possibility that the church could be open to civil unions. the open also said, when he was young, a girl once sent his head and heart spinning. but he went to confession and it ended. and he also warned against portraying him as a superman. saying he is a man who laughs, weeps and has friends, like everyone else. a normal person. >>> and up next here tonight, "real money." the oscar selfie seen around the world. how you can make hundreds of dollars with a pictures on your phone. when we're back in two minutes. [ coughs, sneezes ] i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't u

. tension is building here on the k crimean peninsula. this morning, theso-calleddefenseunitsdescended on the two airports of this region including the one in the capital which is still working as normal. yesterday, armed groups stormed and occupied the parliament building and ran up the russian flag. you have to understand this part of ukraine is mostly ethnically and culturally russian. many would like to see it as a part of russia. ukraine's interior minister said today he sees these actions as a military invasion and occupation by russia. for the first time since this crisis in ukraine began, president vladimir putin of russia has commented on it saying russia is looking into providing assistance to crimea and later today in russia we will finally get a glimpse of ousted ukrainian president viktor yanukovych at a press conference. he has fled ukraine for russia asking for their protection and insisting he's still ukraine's president. alex marquardt, abc news on the crimean peninsula, ukraine. >> we will stay on top of that throughout the day. >>> a serious square in new mexico. inv

shop and refuse to serve a gay person, one, you're an idiot. two, you're not going to haveadefenseunderthis law. serving someone coffee is not a burden on your religion. the cases are bakers, florists, photographers who say, evangelical christians or catholics who say i don't have any problem with gay people, but i don't want to participate in a gay wedding because i have conscientious objections to it. they have been reported for sanctions or fines. that is wrong. that is what is trying to be addressed here. >> one of the reasons it's so important to draw these lines is we have some cases right now in the supreme court which are saying that people who are business owners, not religious institutions and not religiously-affiliated institutions like catholic hospitals, for instance, but business owners saying we don't have to provide contraceptive coverage. we disagree with it. >> let me brinin the congressman. do you think most of the house republican colleagues were relieved by the veto? >> what's interesting about this. as a federal guy, i don't get involved in other states i do

. >> reporter: pistorius claims he thought an intruder was in the home, said he acted in self-defense. abc's "20/20" built a replica of the crime scene to examine crucial evidence at the scene. >> prosecutors say what were two cell phones doing there? >> it would imply an argument. >> she just got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and somehow brought two cell phones with her to leave outside the toilet? they say it doesn't make any sense at all. >> reporter: the trial is set down for three weeks, but the prosecutors alone are calling more thundr witnesses, so it's expected to run much longer. right up until the moments before this trial, prosecutors had been waiting on hel unlock crucial data encrypted on pistorius'e. they now have that and say they're confident of securing a guilty verdict. david. >> hamish macdonald on the s hamish, thank you. eton all e o difference hours make. e plasti the giant ake. oscar statue. as we mentioned a moment umbrellas till handy but hopefully though weather surprises. and lara spencer is there for us. take it away. >> reporter: good evening,

in recently to help protect affect russians to face persecution. >> they were self-defense teams. it will be completely legitimate. and correspond to international law. >> the obama administration says no threat exists. >> it is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of the gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. injohn kerry was in tf -- a package that will help the ukrainian economy. he said sanctions against russia will backfire and while he does not want to start a fight, moscow reserves the right to protect russians in that country. >> on the diplomatic front, secretary kerry is slated to meet with his russian counterpart wednesday. officials are scheduled to meet with nato officials in brussels. jay korff, abc 7 news. >> dramatic moments outside of the wilson building where a car jumped the curb, hit a light post and then came to a rest at the foot of the steps. it was hours before that scene was clear. the driver was not injured. united airlines announced a crack down. a man lays out plans for a murder for hire. little does he know the man on th

on valentine's day, 2013. he says he acted in self-defense after mistaking her for an intruder. a neighbor testified she heard screams coming from the couple's home, followed by gunshots. >> they say honesty is the best policy. why you are more likely to tell the truth during the morning. >> a warning for anyone who uses netflix or gmail. >> we will take you back outside. it is bitterly cold.

. we think the evidence went in well. >> reporter:thedefensewhichclaims kennedy unknowingly took the sleeping pill ambien the morning she sideswiped a tractor trailer in 2012 rested thursday after calling its final witness. dr. david benjamin a clinical form cole gist who helped get ambien approved by the fda said it can cause automatic type behavior and zombieism. they might become impaired and not know it. >> this is a responsible woman. had she had her faculties about her she would have pulled over and called aaa. >> reporter: kennedy has pleaded not guilty and testified that the morning of the accident she had taken a generic form of ambien by mistake mixing it up with her thyroid medication. on the stand she said if i realized i was impaired, i would have pulled over. but in their closing argument, prosecutors said kennedy knew right away that she had taken the wrong pill. she felt it and i submit she was looking for an excuse to control her public image. an apparent reference to her famous family. many of whom have showed up to support kennedy every day including her mother